Friday, November 09, 2007

This past Thursday I was able to see Supagroup once again. This made show number 3 for me since I first saw them at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta Georgia. The tickets said doors at 8:30pm with the show starting promptly at 9pm. Since Supagroup was the first band on the bill I made sure to arrive early. After a late start from work and nearly an hour on the road I made it to Spaceland right at 8:30pm.

As I walked up to the front door Chris Lee and Leif Robinson Swift from Supagroup were standing out front with one of the guys helping them out on the tour. A quick re-introduction and reminder of me seeing them at the Keyclub show about a year back. Chris seemed to remember meeting me from that show and Leif introduced himself to me. I asked if they were going on right at 9 and they said no the second band canceled so they wouldn't be going on until 10 or 10:30.

Chris and I talked briefly about the new album, working with Kevin Shirley, Chris mentioned Kevin is up in the Bay area trying to get Journey's career back together, and the start of the tour. I asked why was "What's Your Problem Now?" on the new album and he said it was because the record company didn't want to make another video. He said he thinks Jailbait will be released as the next single.

He and Leif left and said they'd see me inside.

Once inside I grabbed a beer, an LA Weekly and set up at a table right in front of the stage. It was a long hour and a half but Valient Himself, the singer from Valient Thorr, was playing DJ and was playing tons of great music I had never heard. The only song in the hour and a half that I was familiar with was "Just What The Doctor Ordered" by Ted Nugent. Supagroup went on stage at 10:30p sharp.

They ended up playing without a setlist and proceeded to call out audibles for the next song throughout their set. The show omitted material from their first release. If you aren't familiar with Supagroup they are a band rooted in the music of AC/DC and have the antics of a bunch of teenage party band on stage.

After their set I spoke briefly to Benji Lee and mentioned the Keyclub show to him. He said he remembered it was a good night although no one was at the show. He also recalled the event where one of the guys from the Giraffes dropped his pants and was almost kicked out of the venue while they were on stage. I couldn't believe he recalled that night.

The quote of the night was from Chris. On stage he said that when they arrived the Thorriors were already lining up and word came out that the second band canceled. He said one of the Thorriors said "Good... One less band to sit through."

Next up was Valient Thorr. The crowd was full of Thorriors. What is a Thorrior you ask? It is a kid with long hair, wearing a ratty blue jeans jacket with the sleeves cut off and a giant home made looking Valient Thorr logo on the back. Look here for the official word on becoming a Thorrior. After seeing the band's set you can see why they garner this type of loyalty.

Their set was an unforgettable experience. From the opening of the set with Valient Himself pumping up the crowd to the encore chant of Valient Himself threatening not to play the encore if the crowd didn't know the encore chant. Unaided the crowd launched into"P-A-R-T-Y We don't need no alibi!" Encore achieved.

I hadn't heard their material prior to their show but from their new album they did play both Heatseeker and Exit Strategy. I've since picked up their second album Legend Of The World and I think I have a new favorite album for this year.